Nearby Theaters

The Gary Theater opened on August 29, 1913, at the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. It could originally seat 1,162. It took the name of an earlier Gary Theater which was located at Broadway and Jefferson. Early postcards of the 1913 Gary Theater refer to it as the New Gary Theater.

Originally the Gary Theater was primarily a vaudeville house, but later switched over exclusively to movies. It was closed and and today has been converted into an office building.

I believe that the First United Life Insurance Company building, which is at the Gary Theatre’s address, is the theater building, andit has not been demolished. The front is very modern, but the side and back walls show a combination of modern and very old brick. I think the auditorium was probably gutted and filled in with office floors, and windows were punched into its walls. The current building is the same size as the theater in the historic photo.